The process for the work in terms of research and movement development through dance started last year in December when choreographer Kavitha and Olivier began with the intention to create a work that will address, question, share, resist, defend or argue on popular stereotypes, such as gender.

Forged from an eclectic body of expressions, working through nuances of Bharatha Natyam and contemporary dance; choreographers Olivier and Kavitha go beyond forms to pose questions on gender equality and stereotyping bodies.

They highlight women's right to exist and to implement a voice, which leaves lasting traces.

"As a dance maker I see myself as a messenger, a journalist or a diplomat...I believe that I have a responsibility towards my society to create meaningful work that addresses a community and the individuals in their everyday joys and struggles."- Olivier Tarpaga on his role as a choreographer for Resist, Resurge: Traces of Hope

Tarpaga is the founder and artistic director of the internationally acclaimed Dafra Drum since 1995 and co-founder of Baker & Tarpaga Dance Project. He danced with David Rousseve/Reality from 2006 to 2009. He has worked and collaborated with choreographers such as Brett Raphael, Christian Canciani, Ousseni Sako, Lacina Coulibaly, Auguste Ouedraogo and Bienvenue Bazie. In 2013, Tarpaga was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture of Niger to train and mentor ADC and serve as an artistic advisor during the making of "Une pour trois" at the centre culturel Franco-Nigerien Jean Rouch in Niamey. In 2012, he was commissioned by the Temple of Fine Arts in Perth, Australia, to create "The way of sands." Earlier that summer, he choreographed "Laisses moi etre," a duet during two residencies in Ouagadougou and Singapore. In 2008, Tarpaga was commissioned by Zig Zag Ballet to choreograph "Visage" at the Rich Forum Stanford Center for the Arts in Connecticut. He is a recipient of numerous grants including the Suitcase Fund of New York Live Arts, Chime Mentorship Fellowship with David Rousseve as his mentor, the Durfee Foundation ARC and the Flourish Foundation.

He is currently a senior lecturer in Dance at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and a lecturer in the Department of Dance of Princeton University. Between 2005 and 2014, he was a faculty member in the Department of Dance and the School of Music of The Ohio State University, the Department of Drama and Dance at Kenyon College, Ohio, and the Department of Dance at Denison University, Ohio, the University of Iowa and the World Arts and Cultures department at UCLA. Tarpaga co-founded a study abroad program to Burkina Faso through The Ohio State University's Department of Dance.

He was recently commissioned to train and compose a music and dance concert for Sibongie in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. His 2011 music concert "Saraka" with his Dafra Kura Band performed at the International Sacred Arts Festival in New Delhi and toured four major cities in India, invited by the Government of India. Saraka performed numerous concerts plus a very acclaimed collaboration with Kryasta Guna gamelan ensemble at the Bali Spirit Festival in Bali Indonesia.

Tarpaga has worked, performed, collaborated and recorded with rock artist POE at Capitol Records in Hollywood. In 2008, he was invited to re-interpret Beethoven's ninth symphony with West African instruments in a sold-out concert with British singer Billy Bragg and numerous guests at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, Calif. He has studied dance with Salia Sanou, Seydou Boro, Alassane Congo, Mathilde Monnier, David Rousseve, Robert Seyfried, Nana Nilson, Victoria Marks and Lionel Popkins. Tarpaga has performed and taught dance in over 50 countries in Africa, Europe, Americas, Asia and Australia.

Olivier and his company, Baker & Tarpaga Dance Project is honored to have received the NDP/NEFA Touring Award for 2016-17 and will be using the award to touring Declassified Memory Fragment with a phenomenal cast from Burkina Faso/USA.